The constitutional experience of Zimbabwe : some basic fundamental tenets of constitutionalism which the new constitution should embody.

Abstract

Zimbabwe adopted the Lancaster Constitution in 1980. This constitution has been amended a record nineteen times. The critic on some of the amendments is that they have undermined the fundamental tenets of constitutionalism. Therefore, in the light of the fact that the tide of constitutionalism is sweeping throughout Africa, the dissertation critically evaluates the extent to which the Lancaster Constitution subsumes the basic tenets of constitutionalism. This evaluation is precipitated by the fact that Zimbabwe is currently grappling with drafting a new Constitution. Through this evaluation the inescapable conclusion is that the Lancaster Constitution merely provides a veneer of constitutionalism. Drawing from the constitutional experience of Anglophone African countries which include Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia; the dissertation offers some reforms which the drafters of the new constitution could include in the envisaged constitution. It is argued that it is only after a constitution embodies the identified fundamental tenets of constitutionalism that it becomes worth the paper it is written on.